Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-24

spicuous. The interior of the vault was
q ,holesale wreck. The smaller safes
had been broken open, and the door of 8
larger safe, which stood at the end of the
enclosure, had been completely unhinged,
and now lay upon heap of ledgers.
Wedges had been driven into the creyices
of safe in the right hand corner of the
vault, and they still remained there. The
burglars had been interrupted or they had
already secured enough. How much
they had secured could not yet be known,
but there could be little doubt that the
amount was very great.
The detectives business was not with
this question, however. 1t was his pres
ent duty to study the confusion which
the thieves had left behind them ana en-
their identity. To accomplish this might
seem hopeless task to anyone unaccus-
toned to IL, but Inspector Byrnes, by na
ture and training, was fitted for it to an
extraordinary degree. As critic famil-
lar with the various styles and methods
of work of contemporary writer's can
guess from page Of their compost
ton who was the probable author
of it, or as picture dealer can name
the artist who painted any ipsrticu-
lar canvas, so can the eff
cient detective divine, from
the manner in which a safe has sbeen
attacked and the character of the marks
left upon 1t, something pointing to the
identity of the operators. There is only
a limited number of first class bank
burglars in existence at any given time,
and they and their methods are all more
or less familiar to the police. When d
really first class Job has been done,
therefore it is reasonable TO suppose that
one or another of these men has had g
hand in it. The next step is to inquire
which of these persons were out of jail at
the time the robbery was committed,
and of these, which were in g
part of the country where It would
be physically possible for them
to have been concerned in the burglary.
This determined, it remains to carefully
investigate the late actions and associates
of the suspected persons and to work up
Whatever cirCumstantial evidence may be
available. In this way the inquiry is
gradually narrowed down and the grounds
of suspicion strengthened, until st length
the situation warrants an arrest, but even
then the work of proving the guilt of the
prisoners to the satisfaction of q Jury has
still to be done, and this often turns out
to be the most arduous part of the affair.
In the present instance the investiga-
ton was complicated by the fact that al
unusually large number of first-Class
thieves happened to be at liberty, thus
enlarging the area of suspicion. The
only conclusion which it would be quite
safe to come to, at this stage of the pro-
ceedings, was that some trst-Class man
had been at work here. And yet there
were some idications which seemed to
point at something more than an Ordi-
nary professional burglary. Granting
the truth Of Werkle's story that ne was
compelled by threats of death TO give up
the KEYS and reveal the combination, thus
enabling she thieves to enter the vault
unimpeded, how could they have
calculated so nicely the time necessary to
open the safes inside, and which safes to
attack? How account for their evident
familiarity with ell the arrangements and
internal workings of the institution?
Such knowledge was not to be picked up
by outsiders, however cunning and
persistent How, then, was it to be
obtained? The Inspector shook his
head. 1t certainly looked very much as
II the thieves had enjoyed the advantage
OF some unprofessional assistance, and
where could such assistance come from,
if it were to be of any practical use,
unless from some source inside the bank
itself?
1t was grave question, not to be light
ly or prematurely answered. Once ad
NIT it, and no one connected with the
bank, from the president to the ofice-boy,
would be outside the limits of suspicion.
It would add ten-fold to the obstacles in
the Way Of unravelling the mystery, since
it would be impossible to de-
termine whether the very per-
son upon whom chief reliance for in
formation was placed, might not be pre-
cisely the person who was guilty, and
whose whole sin would, therefore, be to
mislead inquiry. But, in addition to the
officers and employees of the bank, there
were the depositors to be considered. 1t
was possible for depositor, especially
for one of the better class, to obtain q
good deal OF information concerning the
structure and system of the Office.
Such depositor might be friend to one
of the clerks, or even one Of the directors,
and on more or less confidential relations
with him. To identify such an intriguer
might conceivsbly be practicable, but 1t
would be an exceedingly difficult under
taking, and was likely to be an indefinitely
prolonged one.
On the other hand, the fact that the
safes within the vault were broken open
instead of being worked by their COM
binations, tended to show that the inside
source OF information (if such there
were had failed at this point. II was
not to be forgotten, however, that the
breaking open might itself be blind,
to dissipate the inside accom-
plice theory. But, again, it Wou' hardly
be deemed probable that so much valua
BILE time should have been sacrificed
merely to attain so problematical
result. To the thieving fraternity money
is money, and there are very few things
to take precedence Of it. It was better to
suppose, Professionally, that they he'd used
all the information they could get, and
had then depended upon their mechanical
implements and skill.
The investigation OF the vault occupied
the inspector more than sn hour. When
be came out he felt that he knew 81 that
there was to be learned from it. It did
not amount to 8 great deal, but it was
The next thing in order was
TO examine witnesses and find out how
far their stories agreed with or contra
dicted the theories he had formed.
RY this time, however, the officers of
the bank had begun to arrive, and it was
desirabiestoi have preliminary interview
with them NithoVt delay. They were as
sembled in the Presidents room when the
Inspector entered and exchanged greet
Ibgs with them. He briefly sequainted
them with the state of affairs, and theHi
sSked whether they Hasfzrssson to think